The impugned marks are deceptively similar to Plaintiff's registered marks, leading to public deception, and the Court passes a summary judgment in favor of the Plaintiff.

JUDGMENT

1. The Plaintiff has filed the instant suit seeking permanent injunction restraining Defendants from infringement and passing off of its registered trademarks "[IMG]"/"[IMG]" and copyright in artistic work/label viz. "[IMG]",^1[Hereinafter, "Plaintiff's marks" and "Plaintiff's copyright", respectively.^] and other ancillary reliefs of delivery up, damages and costs.

THE PLAINTIFF'S CASE

2. The Plaintiff is engaged in the business of producing and marketing all grades of Plaster of Paris ["P.O.P"] under its marks "AGGARWAL PLASTER"/"[IMG]"/"[IMG]", which was conceived and adopted by it in the year 2008 and has been in continuous commercial use ever since.

3. Plaintiff first applied for registration of its mark "[IMG]" on 07th July, 2010, however, due to error on the part of trademark attorney in entering the user date, said application was abandoned.^2[Trademark Application No.1990304.^] Thereafter, Plaintiff preferred another application [No. 2012484] on 23rd August, 2010 for said mark under class 19, which was allowed and the mark was registered in Plaintiff's favour with the condition that goods under the mark will be sold in the state of Rajasthan only. Under Trademark Application No. 2912500, Plaintiff also secured registration of "[IMG]" mark in class 19 in respect of P.O.P, ready-mix plaster, gypsum compound, gypsum tiles, w.e.f. 28th February, 2015. Goods under this mark are sold across India, including Delhi.

4. Since its inception, Plaintiff has maintained highest standards in manufacturing, marketing and selling of superior quality efficient goods under Plaintiff's marks, resulting in goodwill and reputation among the consumers and members of the trade. Increased demand of Plaintiff's products is evident from its annual sales figures for the financial years 2008-09 to 2019-20, which run into several crores of rupees. Plaintiff has also incurred substantial expenses for publicity and advertisement of its products via print and electronic media. It also has a strong online presence through its website, Justdial.com and e-commerce websites such as Indiamart. Plaintiff's marks have acquired a secondary meaning, denoting that the goods are manufactured and sold exclusively by Plaintiff, and none else.

DEFENDANTS' IMPUGNED ACTIVITIES

5. In the second week of October, 2020, Plaintiff was informed by its salesperson that Defendant No. 1-HD Enterprises manufactures and trades in identical class of goods under the mark and packaging "[IMG]" and "[IMG]" [hereinafter, "impugned marks"] in Delhi, through its dealer/distributor M/s Dinesh Traders (Defendant No. 2). Upon further enquiry, it was found that on 04th October, 2019, Defendant No. 1 preferred application No. 4312556 for registration of the mark "SA SUPER AGGARWAL GYPSUM PLASTER WITH DEVICE"/"[IMG]" mark in the same class i.e., class 19 on a proposed-to-be-used basis. Said application has been opposed by Plaintiff before the Trademarks Registry.

6. Defendants are intentionally and fraudulently selling goods under impugned marks, which are an obvious imitation of Plaintiff's marks, and the same is likely to mislead the public into believing that the goods originate from Plaintiff. Defendants are well-aware of Plaintiff's goodwill and must be restrained from violating the Plaintiff's vested rights in its registered marks.

COURT ORDERS AND LOCAL COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS

7. On 12th November, 2020, an ex-parte ad-interim injunction was granted in favour of the Plaintiff, as follows:

"11. A perusal of the two packaging would reveal that the packaging of the defendant is deceptively similar to that of the plaintiff particularly copying the manner in which the word "Plaster" has been written below the words "vxzoky" in rectangular and lines of the side.